Guantánamo comes to Denver

This is shamefully off-the-mark and utterly offensive to those who are and have been detained at Guantanamo. There must be a more mature and meaningful way to draw attention to human rights violations than imitating torture.

The reality is, nobody who walks into this makeshift cell will fell remotely what actual detainees feel- to purport that they do is irresponsible and insensitive on Amnesty International’s part. If somebody suggested that you could identify with or better appreciate the suffering endured at Auschwitz by going through a mock day, the public would decry it as an insensitive, ineffective, non-educational exercise in insensitive human idiocy, which is exactly what it would be.

Just because offenses at Guantanamo are in the present and not decades in the past does not mean that advocates should simulate severe, and real, conditions that they cannot simulate at the expense of human respect.

This is shamefully off-the-mark and utterly offensive to those who are and have been detained at Guantanamo. There must be a more mature and meaningful way to draw attention to human rights violations than imitating torture.

The reality is, nobody who walks into this makeshift cell will fell remotely what actual detainees feel- to purport that they do is irresponsible and insensitive on Amnesty International's part. If somebody suggested that you could identify with or better appreciate the suffering endured at Auschwitz by going through a mock day, the public would decry it as an insensitive, ineffective, non-educational exercise in insensitive human idiocy, which is exactly what it would be.

Just because offenses at Guantanamo are in the present and not decades in the past does not mean that advocates should simulate severe, and real, conditions that they cannot simulate at the expense of human respect.

Amnesty is trying to draw attention to the abuses at Guantanamo so that they can be stopped. The cell gives a glimpse of what illegal detention is like–just like the museum at Auschwitz gives a glimpse of what the Holocaust was like. Neither display claims to reproduce in full the crimes they draw attention to–that would be absurd. And neither is disrespectul to anyone, let alone the victims of those crimes. Quite the opposite: the people who draw attention to crimes and call for justice are doing the world a great service. What are you doing Sara, besides posting comments that are “off the mark and utterly offensive?”

Amnesty is trying to draw attention to the abuses at Guantanamo so that they can be stopped. The cell gives a glimpse of what illegal detention is like–just like the museum at Auschwitz gives a glimpse of what the Holocaust was like. Neither display claims to reproduce in full the crimes they draw attention to–that would be absurd. And neither is disrespectul to anyone, let alone the victims of those crimes. Quite the opposite: the people who draw attention to crimes and call for justice are doing the world a great service. What are you doing Sara, besides posting comments that are “off the mark and utterly offensive?”

Tim,
If you click into the amnesty web site, it says, “Your cell is waiting.” The museum at Auchwitz does not make any claims welcoming you to relive an experience that is not re-creatable, or offer a “glimpse”- it in fact offers the camp as it actually was. Amnesty is advertising an experience that is designed to show you what Guantanamo detainees are going through, and I find this to be the least creative and yes, insensitive way to bring attention to an issue that does need our attention. Normally I expect much better work from Amnesty.

Tim,
If you click into the amnesty web site, it says, “Your cell is waiting.” The museum at Auchwitz does not make any claims welcoming you to relive an experience that is not re-creatable, or offer a “glimpse”- it in fact offers the camp as it actually was. Amnesty is advertising an experience that is designed to show you what Guantanamo detainees are going through, and I find this to be the least creative and yes, insensitive way to bring attention to an issue that does need our attention. Normally I expect much better work from Amnesty.